Apparatus for printing upon bulged articles



(No Model.) H. SOHULZE-BERGE.

APPARATUS FOR PRINTING UPON BULGED ARTICLES. No. 435,459.

Patented Sept. 2, 1890.

ATTORNEYS- m: NORRIS PEYER! cm, PHDTD-tlfkm, wAsnmemu, use.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HERMANN SCHULZE-BERGE, OF ROCHESTER, PENNSYLVANIA.

APPARATUS FOR PRINTING UPON BULGED ARTICLES.-

SPECIFIGATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 435,459, datedSeptember 2, 1890. Application filed November 13, 1889. Serial No.330,660. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

. Be it known that I, HERMANN SoHULzn- BER GE,a citizen of the Empire ofGermany, and a resident of Rochester, in the county of Beaver and Stateof Pennsylvania, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement inApparatus for Printing upon Bulged Articles, of which the following is afull, clear, and exact specification.

My present invention consists in an apparatus for printing upon bulgedor cylindroidal objects-such as lamp-chimneys, globes, electric-lightbulbs, and similar bulged obj ects which apparatus comprises a flexibleand elastic printing-pad provided with raised characters and supportedby a swinging mem brane of flexible and elastic substance-such asindia-rubber-stretched upon a frame.

Theapparatus is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which-Figure 1 is a top view of the apparatus. Fig. 2 is a verticalcross-section. Fig. 3 is a vertical cross-section showing theprintingsurfaceof the apparatus depressed by a spherical object. Figs.4, 5, and 6 represent in vertical section and plan view a similarapparatus in a modified form.

Like symbols of reference indicate like parts in each figure.

In printing with elastic printing-stamps upon bulged objects thedrawback arises that some parts of the pattern are stretchedmore thanothers and a partly-distorted print results. This is generally the caseif the printing-surface itself is caused to participate in thestretching of the/printing-pad around the bulged object with sufficientpressure or force to leave a printed impression thereon. This objectionresults, chiefly, from the elastic printing-surface constituting theprinting-pad or being fastened with its entire under side upon the pad,so that the printing-surface must stretch and elongate if theprinting-pad be depressed or indented. In my improved printing apparatusas represented in the drawings I overcome such difficulty by using arather thin and elastic swinging membrane a, stretched over a frame I),and a separate pliable or elastic printing-surface c, placed looselyupon the swinging membrane a and attached thereto or held in placethereon by being sewed to it withafew stitches of thread d, or.otherwise joined thereto near the middle or the middle line of theprinting design. In this case the swinging membrane a can be stretchedor elongated without causing the printing-surface to partake of theelongating, so that if a bulged article is depressed upon theprinting-surface o it causes the latter only to conform to the shape ofthe article, while the stretched swinging membrane a elongates'and-slides out from beneath the printing-surface 0, simultaneouslypressing the printing-surface 0 upon the bulged article. As representedin Figs. 1 to 3, the frame I),

over which the membrane a is stretched, is

circular in shape, and is preferably made of tinned sheet-iron or thelike, and the membrane a is attached thereto in a manner similar to theattachment of a drum-skin to a drum. A second smaller circular frame fis placed loosely and centrally inside of the frame I) and below themembrane a, for the purpose of getting the effect of a larger piece ofthe elastic membrane concentrated and to act upon a comparativelysmaller area over which the printing-surface c is located, therebyproducing a more yielding pressure upon the printing-surface thanotherwise attainable. This will be understood by reference to Fig. 3,Where a globular object is depressed. upon the printing-surface.

Figs. 4:, 5, and 6 represent the apparatus suitably constructed for thepurpose of printing designs upon cylindroidal objects such aslamp-chimneys-which can be depressed with their bulged portions upon theapparatus, and then be rolled over it in a manner similar to theoperation of the apparatus described in Letters Patent No. 296,223,issued to me April 1, 188th In the figures, 1) represents the oblong orrectangular frame of tinned sheet-iron orthe like over which theswingingmembrane a is stretched, and to which membrane the printing design 6 isattached by being sewed thereto by the stitches 01 near the middle lineof the design. The stitches by which the printing design or pad isattached are not shown in these figures. v

f represents the inside frame, ledges, or ribs which concentrate theelasticity of the swinging membrane upon the printing-surface 0 when anobject is depressed upon the printing design. The inside frame f or itsupper edge may itself serve as bearing-surfaces for the object to berolled thereon, and another guide or rail g is preferably provided forthe foot or end of the object to rest against while the'object is rolledover the printing-surface.

Instead of depressing the bulged object upon the printing-pad thereverse operation may be performed of depressing the printing-pad, ifprovided with suitable mechanism, upon the bulged article, which may bedone in a manner similar to that described by me in Letters Patent No.418,236, issued to me on December 31, 1889.

I claim- 1. In apparatus for printing'npon bulged or curved articles,the combination of aframe, an elastic membrane, and an elasticprintingpad attached ata part only of its rear to the elastic membrane,whereby the said membrane'is capable of independent stretching,substantially as and for the purposes described.

2. In aprinting apparatus for printing upon bulged or curved articles, aframe, in combination witha stretched elastic membrane having an elasticprinting-surface thereon,

and another narrower frame or ribs within the first-named frame,substantially as and for the purposes described. a

3. In apparatus for printing upon curved or bulged objects, a flexiblemembrane provided with a printing-pattern located above a space intowhich the printing-pattern can be depressed by a bulged object, incombination with a ledge or ledges on which the bulged object may berolled over the printing-surface, substantially as and for the purposesdescribed.

4. Apparatus for printing upon bulged or curved articles, consisting ofa frame provided with a flexible membrane, and aprinting surface or .padsecured to the membrane at one point or place only, whereby the membranemay be stretched without substantially stretching the printingsurface,substantially as and for the purposes described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as myinvention I have signed myname,in presence of two Witnesses, this 31st day of October, 1889.

HERMANN SOHULZE-BERGE.

Witnesses:

O. W. HURST, CHAS. RUNYoN.

